My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....welcome back. Sometimes it's nice to take a break although I'd prefer it to be my choice.....

furbucket.....yep.....just chillin.....



Then came December.....2025. This was the month that we planned to go south. My friend finally moved on and I loaded the camper onto the truck, hooked up the Jeep, and lastly loaded the truck and camper with 90 % of our supplies (basically everything that won't freeze). The plan was to spend the holidays in Las
Vegas, Nevada.....that never happened. The weather was so nice here.....people in town were wearing shorts and tee shirts (not me). So we decided to hang around a bit longer. And so it was that we never left Montana.....in December.....and we only endured one short cold spell that entire month.....



I had mentioned in my last post that the neighbor across the road had moved.....unfortunately a bunch of his cats didn't move with him. So I started feeding the cats that were left behind.....



.....and then I connected with a vet in town that agreed to trap them, then fix and vaccinate them, and then return them to me. I then found a shelter nearly 100 miles away that agreed to take them in.....I've made countless trips.....this work unfortunately is still a work in progress.....




Now that old barn of his was filled with countless treasures.....at least in the eyes of this soon to be world renowned hoarder.....



I've brought home tons of old barn hardware.....not sure if it'll ever be of any use to me.....I sleep better knowing that it won't end up in the landfill.....



I found a bunch of slabs of stone and thought that I ought to grab them too.....



Since the ground still wasn't frozen (that's nearly unbelievable for this time of year) I went ahead and did some repairs on my stone walkway.....



Sometimes.....when we weren't over there dismantling the barn we'd just hang out at the cabin.....and be stupid. Trapper has been on a diet and has lost 10 pounds.....maybe licking the inside of that bag wasn't stupid after all.....



I signed up for internet.....Netflix and HBO.....I don't watch it much but I suspect that will change in due time.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Now who’s the hoarder?


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....on that subject, here's a bit more ammo.....


I found this abandoned water trough for the horses and thought it might make for a nice raised planter.....so I brought it home.....



Where there's an abandoned water trough for the horses, you just know that there's a bunch of horse manure avaliable as well. I filled the bottom third with round boulders and the top two thirds with horse manure.....I guess we'll have to wait for the Spring weather before we'll know how that works out. Just behind it to the right, is a smaller one (picture above).....not sure if itll have a life on my property.....



I found an old workbench and cut the legs down so it would be the appropriate height for my saws.....nice little shelf below for my power tools.....



And then there's the boards.....



In this pile there are (80) 2x4x8's and (150) 2x6x various lengths (many are 16 footers).....



And plywood too.....I've only brought home maybe a dozen sheets so far but I've got a stockpile that I'll be getting soon. Notice the brown man gate that I grabbed.....laying up against the plywood.....



And there are tons of fence boards.....some have a beautiful patina.....



In the next picture you see quite a large stack of fence boards.....most are the same as what are inside of my cabin.....but the top layer is a much wider board.....



Well, it seems like a good start if I do indeed chose to build a tiny house on my property.....I guess that's it for December.....2025.....(the truth is that I've got way more than what I'm showing here). But I think you get the idea.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Tanner is giving you that side-eye. Like enough already Dad.

I wish I could come across a stack of fence boards like that. I wouldn’t hoard them. Nope, I’d build a better fence to reduce the noise from my ************ neighbor.


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[furbucket]

Something about old rusty hardware- you just can’t throw it away. My house came with a small 100+ yr old barn- my bathroom now has a sliding door hung up with the old patina’d (patinated? Patina’d sounds better) barn door track. Old, rolls like sht, looks super cool and I love it! Ignore the dirty door, it still needs to be painted (paintenated?).

Glad you’re saving cool stuff from the dump.

 

[Arjan]

Oh yes !!!!!

Love hoarding I'm afraid - mostly Land Rover parts & vehicles... Mrs. H. however is somewhat strict and wants to balance the amount of my junk with more horses for her....

Many thanks - please keep it coming !

 

[ITTOG]

I don't decorate but if I did I would match your style. I like the tractor with some color on it still. There is a house near me that has about ten tractors but the only color is rust. I still like them, but not like yours. I want some color on it. A man cannot have too many work benches.

Tanner is giving you that side-eye. Like enough already Dad.

I wish I could come across a stack of fence boards like that. I wouldn’t hoard them. Nope, I’d build a better fence to reduce the noise from my ************ neighbor.


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I took Tanners look as, "Don't believe him. He has 20 times more than he is indicating.". LOL

 

[Riversdad]

Ace.....welcome back. Sometimes it's nice to take a break although I'd prefer it to be my choice.....

furbucket.....yep.....just chillin.....



Then came December.....2025. This was the month that we planned to go south. My friend finally moved on and I loaded the camper onto the truck, hooked up the Jeep, and lastly loaded the truck and camper with 90 % of our supplies (basically everything that won't freeze). The plan was to spend the holidays in Las
Vegas, Nevada.....that never happened. The weather was so nice here.....people in town were wearing shorts and tee shirts (not me). So we decided to hang around a bit longer. And so it was that we never left Montana.....in December.....and we only endured one short cold spell that entire month.....

View attachment 907455

I had mentioned in my last post that the neighbor across the road had moved.....unfortunately a bunch of his cats didn't move with him. So I started feeding the cats that were left behind.....

View attachment 907457

.....and then I connected with a vet in town that agreed to trap them, then fix and vaccinate them, and then return them to me. I then found a shelter nearly 100 miles away that agreed to take them in.....I've made countless trips.....this work unfortunately is still a work in progress.....

View attachment 907456
View attachment 907465

Now that old barn of his was filled with countless treasures.....at least in the eyes of this soon to be world renowned hoarder.....

View attachment 907459

I've brought home tons of old barn hardware.....not sure if it'll ever be of any use to me.....I sleep better knowing that it won't end up in the landfill.....

View attachment 907460

I found a bunch of slabs of stone and thought that I ought to grab them too.....

View attachment 907461

Since the ground still wasn't frozen (that's nearly unbelievable for this time of year) I went ahead and did some repairs on my stone walkway.....

View attachment 907462

Sometimes.....when we weren't over there dismantling the barn we'd just hang out at the cabin.....and be stupid. Trapper has been on a diet and has lost 10 pounds.....maybe licking the inside of that bag wasn't stupid after all.....

View attachment 907463

I signed up for internet.....Netflix and HBO.....I don't watch it much but I suspect that will change in due time.....

View attachment 907464

Good on you for taking care of the cats. Hate people that treat animals like they're disposable.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....I consider myself lucky since my neighbors have been constantly disappearing. I live at the end of a gravel road that has been here for years. Most of the homes are (were) single or double wide trailers, or old homes in disrepair. Now there's only 3 of us left as most landowners have sold out to an entity that pays cash, 15 % over appraised value. It's hard to turn down for most of the folks here.....not me. I never envisioned myself living in a place like this but I can honestly say that I like it. I'm happy here yet I know that one day I too will sell out.....

furbucket.....after reading your post I paid special attention to the barn at my next visit. There's several doors available like yours.....one is about 8' feet tall and the other is probably 10'.....definitely not appropriate for a tiny house (I'm thinking 8'x24').....

Arjan.....more coming.....for now anyhow.....

ITTOG.....that last line of yours is so right. The dogs watch me going back and forth from that property, always returning with something in my hands.....I can't help but wonder what they think. A lot of the things that I gather I give to friends. One friend brought over his skid steer and a trailer, and it was unreal what he took. I gave away a really cool antique windmill to another friend. It was manufactured by the same company that built the old tractor. 20 times is probably a low estimate.....



Next was January.....2026.....and I don't remember exactly when it was that I thought maybe we'll just stay in Montana this winter.....the weather was that nice. I unhitched the Jeep around New Years and we headed back to the infectious Crazy Mountains.....



The skies were overcast and the temperatures were cool.....not cold like you'd expect here this time of year.....



We took the backroads this time.....the interstate just didn't feel right. I was on a spiritual mission.....for a special reason. The road we chose north passed along the eastern slopes of the Bridger Mountains and along the western slopes of the Bangtail Mountains.....the higher elevations had us driving on partially snow covered roads.....White Tail Deer seemed to be everywhere.....



Just north of Clyde Park, Montana, we turned onto Cottonwood Bench Road as we always do and drove east towards the base of the Crazy Mountains.....



Some sections of the gravel road had suffered already from the mild winter and a road crew was out there trying to make things right.....



The further east we drove the more difficult the drive became.....it was a mix of mud, snow, and ice.....



Eventually I chose to engage the 4 wheel drive.....as the wheels spun and we skidded a bit side to side.....



When we finally got to the highest point in the road, I decided to abandon the rig and walk the last three miles to the trailhead.....



It was good to see that there was a considerable amount of snow on the road.....enough to know that I wasn't driving my rig to the trailhead.....



There's a small section of private land that the road passed through.....it appeared that 4 wheelers and snowmobiles had driven that far.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

This cabin is the last cabin on the road.....and it was here that we saw the last of the tracks on the snow covered road.....



We kept on walking.....hoping to at least make it to the trailhead.....



The pines were thick here.....it was interesting to see the areas where the snow barely made it to the ground due to the dense overhead pine branches.....



It was getting late in the day at this point and we were less than a mile from the trailhead when I decided to turn back. Temperatures dropped significantly when the sun dropped below the horizon.....and we were beginning to feel it.....



Now we had a few miles.....maybe three.....to make it back to the rig. We arrived at the highest points in the valley just in time to catch a sensational Montana sunset.....




I clearly remember this moment.....the warmth of the truck camper pulled at me while at the same time the crisp fresh air and the sunset had the identical pull. The sunset won the battle and we wandered around aimlessly watching Gods' work unfold.....





Temperatures continued to drop that night....nearly into the single digits.....and in spite of those same temperatures inside the truck camper, we slept well.....5 blankets did the trick.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Im curious to know how your dogs sleep when it’s cold. In my rig I sleep topside while my dog is on the floor of the truck. The floor is well insulated and she has a 2” thick pad. I also put a coat on her. But often by morning she is shivering pretty badly. It would be nice if she could sleep next to me in the bunk to keep us both warmer and I could help keep a cover over her. But I cant lift 70# up there and no room for a ladder. Ive been thinking about some sort of dog sleeping bag. But haven’t seen anything yet that would stay on her.

Ideas?


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We spent another day and night wandering aimlessly along the roads which were still sometimes covered in mud, snow, and ice.....



.....and sometimes not.....




I again used the leap frog system by walking several miles ahead.....then several miles back. Retrieve the rig.....drive maybe 4 or 5 miles and do it all over again.....




There's really no better way to see a place than on foot. I know this is a site that attracts people that like to drive their rigs.....so I ask the question how or why did I ever end up here ? For fourteen years no less ?



The views from the roadway of the surrounding mountains.....the Absaroka Mountains.....the Crazy Mountains.....the Bridger Mountains.....absolutely stunning with the winter's snow cover.....




I think that plenty of people might go to a small Montana cabin to experience a spiritual moment but for me, much like the Crow Tribe (Apsáalooke) that came here in the years past, I needed the Crazy Mountains to help me with what lies ahead of me.....

The plow was still out there plowing Cottonwood Bench Road several days later as we reluctantly left the mountains behind and drove east on our return to our tiny cabin in the valley.....

I almost felt that the plow was symbolic as it removed the barriers and challenges for vehicles that chose to travel along this roadway....I felt that I had now removed some of the psychological barriers and challenges that lie ahead of me and I left with a gained energy.....and a calmness.....to meet my own challenges.....

 

[furbucket]

furbucket.....after reading your post I paid special attention to the barn at my next visit. There's several doors available like yours.....one is about 8' feet tall and the other is probably 10'.....definitely not appropriate for a tiny house (I'm thinking 8'x24').....

The door is just a regular interior slab door, the rusty rail it's hanging from is half of what used to be holding up the 110 yr old barn door

Those snowy mountain road pics and sunset shots are amazing! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....my dogs have no problem with frigid temperatures. They actually prefer it. If I try to cover them with blankets they'll almost immediately get up and move to a new spot.....

furbucket.....thanks.....



We made one last road trip in January of 2026. We set off for yet one more trip to the hospital in Missoula, Montana. We left early that morning in an effort to avoid an impending snowstorm which only dumped a few inches of snow at the cabin. It's been such a dry winter.....

We took the interstate west on a day that began with cold temperatures and dark, cloudy skies.....



An hours' drive west of the cabin we found perfect blue skies.....



My appointment was late in the afternoon so we were able to make several stops along the way to take long walks along mostly deserted roadways.....



One of our stops was on a roadway with a bridge that crossed the Clark Fork.....this being so recent that I can still remember the crisp, cool air and the way it made me (us) feel. Here I spotted this most incredible ranch along the rivers' shoreline.....and I told myself that we'd return here to this area and try to summit a nearby peak.....



I noticed these folks floating the river and thought how odd that was for January.....as I would have expected in normal times that the river would be frozen over.....



Well, things didn't turn out as planned. That night I ate at a restaurant, ended up with food poisoning, and at 4:00 a.m, 15 degrees outside as well as inside the camper, I'd had enough.....and we headed for home.....barely a 24 hour road trip.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Not too long ago I took a break from posting on XP and I did that without mentioning it beforehand. That break left people wondering. I need to once again take a break from XP. I thought it best to say something this time.....just trying to keep people from wondering again. I've got some personal business that I need to take care of. Hopefully I'll be back here one day posting about the dogs, the cabin, our backcountry travels, and our love for Montana.....if I don't make it back.....it's been a pleasure sharing with you for all these years.....thanks.....